Art of making buttons.



PATENTED SEPT. 18, 1905.

W. s. WATSON. I ART OF MAKING BUTTONS.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR )Wiaflkldfl flhlm ATTORNEYS AIPLIOATION FILED MAE.17, 1905.

v WITNESSES:

110,331,393. PAT'ENTBD SEPT. 18, 1906. w. s. WATSON. ART OF MAKINGBUTTONS.

APELIOATION FILED MAE-17, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

cm, WASHINGTON, D. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WINFIELD SCOTT WATSON, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

ART OF MAKING BUTTONS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 18, 1906.

T0 on whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WINFIELD Soo'rT WAT- soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and aresident of Memphis, in the county of Shelby and State ofTennessee, have invented a new and Improved Art of Making Buttons, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to reduce the number of operationsnecessary in the manufacture of buttons, particularly those pro ducedfrom fresh-water mussel or other shells. In attaining this end I form acircular or other kerf in the shell and simul taneously dress the partof the shell bounded by the kerf to form the face of the button. Thekerf is formed in the inner surface or face of the shell and is of adepth equal to or greater than the thickness of the button. After theoperations above described I grind away or otherwise remove a portion ofthe outer side or back of the shell, forming a cut or cavity thereinextending along a plane surface and said out extending through to thekerf first made. In this way I simultaneously separate the button fromthe shell and dress the back of the button, which is thereby completelyformed excepting for the thread-holes, which may be drilled at any timeand in any desired manner.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate as anexample one manner in which my new process may be practiced, togetherwith the machinery for performing the various steps involved, in whichdrawings like characters of reference indicate like parts in the severalviews, and in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a lathe commonlyemployed in making button-blanks and showing face-cutting toolcompleted. Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section of thecutting-tool. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 isan end view of the tool shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is afront elevationshowing the apparatus for grinding away the back of the shell. Fig. 6 isa side elevation of the same, partly in section, on the line 6 6 of Fig.5. Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the chuck or holder employedwith the apparatus shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Fig. 8 is a view showing theface of a fresh-water mussel-shell with two circular kerfs therein, eachbounding a partly-formed button, the face of which has been dressedsimultaneously with the formation of the kerf. Fig.

- dressed. plane,

9 is a sectional view of the shell on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8, and Fig.10 is a view illustrating the part, of the shell as shown in Fig. 9 asthe same would appear after the grinding of the back of the shell bywhich simultaneously to remove the finished button from the shell and todress or finish the back surface of the button.

.In forming buttons according to my improvement in the art I produce inthe face of a shell a endless or annular kerfs or grooves I), thusforming a buttonblank inside of each kerf, these blanks being indicatedat c in Figs. 8, 9, and 10. Kerfs b are formed with a depth equal to orgreater than the thickness of the button for the purpose which willhereinafter fully appear. Simultaneously with the formation of the kerfsb I completely dress or form the face of the blank, as indicated by thecavity 0 in said figures. Of course the precise profile of the blankdepends upon the form of the button being made.

The drawings illustrate a simple form of button in which the face isformed merely with a central cavity or indentation. The shell will nowappear as illustrated best in Fig. 9. The next operation is to grindaway or otherwise remove the back or outer part of the shell, workinginward from the outer surface or back until the kerf b is reached. Thissecond operation serves to sever the button from the shell, as indicatedat d in Fig. 10, and to simultaneously dress or finish the back or rearsurface of the button. The cut or cavity thus formed extends along aplane surface, so' that the back of the button is as contradistinguishedfrom rounding or curved. (See Fig. 10.) Of course if a button with around back is desired the cut may be made rounding to give the buttonthe form desired. These two operations produce the finished buttonexcepting for the thread-holes, which may be formed at any time. Thismanner of producing the button dispenses entirely with the difficult andtedious operations of finishing the blanks. Under the old methodcommonly employed with fresh-water shells a circular roove or kerf isformed clear through the s liell, producing a disk-like blank which isfinished by special machinery designed for this purpose.

It will be observed that with my process the formation of the blank andthe finishing of the button are merged into two simple and concurrentoperationsto wit, first,

forming the kerf with a depth equal to the thickness of the button anddressing the face 0, and, second, grinding away the back of the shell torelease the button and to dress the rear side thereof. The art orprocess therefore effects material saving in time, machinery, and labor.It also involves a saving in the material of which the buttons areconstructed.

By forming the kerf b of a depth equal to or greater than the thicknessof the button I am enabled to use on the back of the shell a tool with aplane working surface, and I avoid the necessity of employing on theback of the shell a cutting-tool with projecting portions at its sides,which must enter the shell beyond the back'of the button to form asecond kerf meeting the first kerf. In my invention only one cuttingoperation is essential namely, the operation of cutting the kerf b to adepth equal to the thickness of the button. This having been done, I amenabled to come in from the back of the shell and working along a planesurfaceas, for instance, by the grinding device, to be hereinafterdescribedremove a ortion of the shell, leaving a plane surface which notonly forms the back of the button, but reaches the kerf, thus completelyseparating the button from the shell.

Figs. 1 to 4 illustrate the devices which may well be em loyed forproducing the kerf and facing the Futton. Fig. 1 shows an ordinarybutton-lathe having my improved cutting and facing tool in position.Obviously this tool may be operated by lathe or machinery of any formsuitable to this purpose, and in my copending application, Serial No.250,560, filed March 17, 1905, I have illustrated a special machine foroperating the tool shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. Said tool comprises abody 15, having an extension 16, with a longitudinal groove 17 therein.This groove is quadrant-shaped in cross-section and is intended toreceive the facing-tool 18. Said groove 17 extends also through the body15 of the tool, so that the shank of the facing-tool may project intothe body, where it is held by a screw 19 or other fastening means. Theouter side of the facing-tool 18 is arc-shaped, so as to correspond withthe curvature of the outer surface of the extension 16, the two parts 16and 18 forming approximately a round structure. Received in this roundstructure composed of the extension 16 and tool 18 is a split tubularsaw 20. This saw is in the form of a split tube one end of which hasteeth produced thereon. The saw is of resilient material, so that it maybe sprung around the parts 16 and 18, and the saw is clamped firmly inplace by means of a shoe 21, hearing against the side of the saw andheld by a screw 22 said shoe being located in a cavity 23, formed in aclamping-sleeve 24. This sleeve slips over the cutting-tool 20 andcarries the screw 22, before described. By

means of the arrangement shown the tools 18 and 20 may be relativelyadjusted to give the button any desired form, and the tool 18 may bechanged 'at will to change the rofile of the button. The body 15 of thetoo may be fastened in the lathe by a suitable chuck or any otherdesired manner. It will be observed that when the tool is in operationthe tubular saw 20 in rotating against the shell will form the circularkerf 1), before described, and the facing-tool 18 in turning around theface of the disk formed by the kerf will dress down the face and finishthe button at this point.

I will next describe the devices which may well be employed for grindingaway the back of the shell. These devices are illustrated in Figs. 5, 6,and 7. They comprise a suitable frame or support 25, having bearings 26.

for a drive-shaft 27, on which a suitable grinding-wheel 28 is carried.Above the grinding-wheel 28 a bracket 29 is fastened to the support.(See Fig. 6.) This bracket has two boxes 30 and 31, and receivedloosely, in the said boxes is a vertically-extending shaft 32, having acollar 33, attached to which collar are pivoted links 34. The links areoined at their upper ends to a crank or cranks on a shaft 35, and thisshaft is mounted to rock in bearings 36, formed on the bracket 29. 37indicates an operating-handle carried by the shaft 35. 38 indicates aspring which engages between the box 30 and the collar 33 and tends tohold the shaft 32 in the raised position shown. The shaft 32 carries atits lower end a tubular holder 39, formed with a cavity 40 in its lowerend, (see Fig. 7,) which is of a size equaling that of the buttons 0,(see Fig. 9,) so that one of the buttons may be received snugly in thecavity, as will hereinafter appear. The shaft 32 is tubular to registerwith the tubular holder 39, and extending through these tubular parts isan ejector-rod 41. This rod projects beyond the top of the shaft 32 andis su ported by a bracket 42, which is attached to the shaft and to thebox 31 of the bracket 29.

Figs. 5 and 6 show the grinding devices in inactive position. In orderto grind away the back of the shell, the arm 37 should be raised, so asto throw down the shaft 32, causing the lower end of the holder 39 toproject below the lower end of the ejector-rod 41. The shell should nowbe placed back downward between the grinding-wheel 28 and the holder 39and the downward movement of the holder continued until the cavity 40 ofthe holder receives one of the buttons (see c in Fig. 9) and the back ofthe button is engaged with the grinding-wheel. The shell may be held inthe hand of the operator, and upon the movement of the grinding-wheelthe back of the shell will be cut or ground away, as indicated in Fig.10, thus simultaneously removing the button from the tool (see (Z inFig. 10) and dressing or finishing the back of the button. After thishas been done the arm 39 should be lowered, whereupon the parts willassume the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and the ejector-rod 41. willdislodge the finished button from the cavity 40 of the holder 39.

Having thus described the preferred form of my invention, what I claimas new, and

desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

than the thickness of the button to be formed, dressing the face of thematerial bounded by the groove to finish the face of the button, andthen removing the material at the back of the shell in rear of thegroove.

3. The method herein described of forming buttons from shells,consisting in forming in the shell an annular groove of a depth greaterthan the thickness of the button to be formed,

dressing the face of the material bounded by 0 the groove, and thengrinding away the back of the shell opposite the groove to sever thebutton and to dress the back of the same.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of 35 two subscribing witnesses.

WINFIELD SCOTT WATSON. Witnesses:

N. W. SMITH, K. BLANTON.

